by Israel Keats
Another wooden man stood at the front desk. In front of him was an enormous open book, also covered with dust. The automaton woke as they approached.
“Greetings—greetings—greetings—” he repeated.
Gadget glanced back at Terry. “Have you run into any broken automatons yet?”
“Nope. Maybe give it a whack—that’s what my dad does to our TV.”
She reached over and hit the automaton on the shoulder. The movement knocked it out of its loop.
“We currently have no vacancies,” it said in an automated voice. “Sorry for the inconvenience! Next time make a reservation!”
“How can there be no vacancies?” Terry asked from behind her. “This place is deserted!”
“Sorry for the inconvenience!” the clerk repeated.
“We don’t need any rooms,” Gadget said. “I just want to ask about a former guest.”
“Sorry! We do not give out any personal information! We are most discreet—most discreet—” the machine said again and again. Gadget reached over and gave it another knock, but this time she accidentally pushed it over. It crashed to the floor with the sound of blown springs.
“Oops,” Gadget said when the automaton didn’t get up. “Well, let’s have a look at the guest registry.” She pulled the big book around and brushed the dust off to read the faded ink. She flipped back through the pages until she saw the name Weston Fawkes.
She tapped it. “That must be Captain Fawkes’s dad. He stayed here sometimes. Thought so. That’s why this place is marked on the map.”
“So there’s no treasure here?” Terry asked.
“Not likely. But there might be a clue. Look.” Across from the name was the note Tower. “That’s where he stayed.” She flipped through the pages. “Looks like he was the last one to stay in the tower. Maybe he left something behind?”
“Maybe,” Terry said. He frowned. “Does that mean we have to go up in that tower that looks like it’s about to collapse?”
“Yep,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Past the desk was a rickety spiral staircase. An automaton knelt in front of it, hammering on the first step. Gadget tried to step over the automaton, but an invisible force stopped her.
“Please use the elevators,” the automaton said. “Sorry for the inconvenience.” He went back to hammering.
“I’m getting sick of that phrase,” she muttered as she tapped the button for the elevator. After a long wait, a door slowly opened. Inside was an automaton elevator operator.
As she and Terry got on, the automaton asked, “Which floor, please?”
“The tower,” she answered.
“The twentieth floor,” the automaton said. “Up we go!” The elevator groaned to life and slowly made its way up. The elevator came to a halt at the ninth floor, and the door opened.
“Have a nice day!” the elevator operator said.
Gadget peered out from her place in the elevator car. “This is the wrong floor,” she said. “We want to go the tower.”
“This is your floor. Have a nice day!”
“Everything in this place is broken,” she grumbled.
“This panel is loose,” Terry said. He crouched behind the elevator operator and removed a metal plate. Inside was a tangled mess of wires and bolts.
“I bet we have to rewire it,” Gadget said, studying it. The wires emerged on the left side of the panel and connected to one or more of the bolts on the right side.
“I don’t know what to make of this,” Terry said.
“It’s actually not too much of a mess, if you know what you’re looking at.” She fiddled with the wires and bolts for a few minutes before finally rearranging the wires in what she hoped was the correct order.
“Take us to the tower, please,” she tried again.
“Up we go!” The operator said, and the elevator groaned to life, taking them all the way to the top.
Gadget stepped off the elevator onto a small landing with a single door, which was opened a crack. She pushed it all the way open.
“The penthouse is being cleaned!” an automaton maid told her. It was wiping at a mirror with a gray cloth that was full of holes. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“I don’t mind if you clean while I’m here,” Gadget said, stepping into the room. Terry followed her in.
“Please wait while the room is being cleaned,” said the robot again. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Ignoring the robot, they searched the room. It didn’t take long. The room wasn’t clean, but it was empty. Nothing in the drawers and closet. Nothing under the bed or behind the dresser.
Terry sighed. “Guess we wasted our time coming here.”
“Yeah,” she admitted.
The maid was still swiping at the filthy mirror.
There’s something written on that cloth, Gadget realized.
“Let’s head to another location,” Terry said eagerly. He took out his map and squinted at it. “It’s too dark to read in here. Let’s get back outside.”
“I want to see one more thing.”
“Don’t take too long. I’m going to go look at my map in the sunlight.” Terry hurried out of the room while Gadget approached the maid.
“I can finish cleaning the mirror,” she said. “You can take a break.”
“Really?” The automaton handed her the cloth. “A break?”
“Sure.”
“I’ve never had a break!”
“Well, knock yourself out.”
The automaton maid hummed happily to itself.
Gadget unfolded the cloth and took a better look. The writing she’d seen was initials: the letters WF stitched into the cloth.
It could stand for Weston Fawkes, she thought. And these holes in the cloth look snipped out, not like random rips. She laid out the map on the bed and put the cloth on top of it. She rotated the cloth, flipped it over, and rotated it again. The eight holes in the cloth now revealed eight of the marks on the map.
It’s a decoder! I bet this shows where the treasures are. That gives me a huge edge on the others. I mean ‘us,’ she corrected herself. She’d already forgotten about Terry. But do I want to tell him? She memorized the eight locations revealed on the map. She decided a snail-shaped island in the harbor would be her first destination. It was closest to the hotel and far enough away from the city center that they probably wouldn’t land themselves in a battle with other pirates.
I don’t have a treasure yet, but I’m making progress, she thought as she put her map back in her bag.
The automaton was still humming to itself.
“Break time is over,” Gadget said. She handed the cloth back to the maid.
“Oh,” the maid said sadly.
“Sorry for the inconvenience.” Gadget left the room and pushed the elevator call button repeatedly with no luck.
She started down the stairs. Twenty floors, she thought grimly, but down is easier than up. Hope Terry doesn’t get sick of waiting and take off without me . . .
She reached the bottom and jumped over the railing to avoid the automaton carpenter still banging on the bottom step. When she hit the floor she realized there were four strangers dressed in what looked to be some kind of military uniform standing in the lobby, and two of them were holding Terry.
Chapter 4
Terry was struggling to get free, kicking helplessly while the soldiers held his arms. “What are you doing here?” the commander asked. He had a red face and a drooping moustache.
“None of your business!” Terry snapped.
“This is a known lair for pirates and other criminals,” the commander replied. “As an officer of the Verne Aero-Navy, that means it is my business!”
The soldiers were circled around Terry with their backs to the stairs.
I could sneak past them and leave, Gadget thought. Or I could try to rescue him, which would probably mean getting caught myself. Either way I have to decide fast.
She crept past them,
crawling behind the desk and over the body of the fallen desk clerk.
“Sorry, no vacancies,” the clerk still muttered as she passed. “Next time make a reservation.” Gadget reached the door and addressed the doorman.
“Can you please get my baggage?” she said. “It’s right there.” She pointed at the commander. The giant automaton nodded.
“My pleasure, ma’am!” The bellhop stomped over and scooped up the commander. The other soldiers jumped back in surprise. Terry broke free from their grasp and reached for his sword.
“Bring that to the bottom of the mountain,” Gadget told the bellhop. The bellhop nodded and carried the commander out of the room.
“Don’t just stand there!” the commander shouted. “Help me!” The other soldiers ran after the giant automaton to rescue their leader.
“Smart thinking. Thanks,” Terry said. “Did you find any treasure?”
I should tell him what I did find, but we’re in a hurry. She shook her head. “No. We better get out of here fast!”
They bolted across the lawn to the cloud-skimmer. A moment later they were soaring across the outskirts of Verne.
Chapter 5
“Where are we going?” Terry shouted.
“The harbor!” she yelled back. One of the eight spots on the map was right in the middle of the bay, on a little rock far from shore. She was nervous about landing on such a tiny space but didn’t have time to worry about it.
Their path to the bay brought them through more mountains. Terry yelped as Gadget took sharp corners and flew into tight passages between cliffs, but at last they sailed past the mountains and over the harbor. A small, rocky beach surrounded the bay. The water was roiling.
“What are you doing?” Terry cried as she flew past the beach and continued over the water.
“You’ll see!” The small, snail-shaped island came into view, and she started their descent. She braked and this time made a soft landing on the island. She got off and looked around.
“There’s nothing here,” Terry said. He was right—the rocky island had no grass or trees, and the surface was too hard for anything to be buried there. “That’s two dead ends in a row,” he complained.
Gadget narrowed her eyes. This is why I don’t like working in groups. Seems like I do all the work and just get criticized. Guess I’ll keep that decoder to myself.
Terry slid up to the driver’s seat. “I want to pick the next destination.” As he nudged the cloud-skimmer forward, Gadget noticed a thin crack forming a perfect circle at the very center of the island. She’d missed it before because the cloud-skimmer had been directly on top of it.
“Look!” She pointed. Terry got off the cloud-skimmer and saw it too. They hauled the machine aside. Terry dropped to his knees and ran his fingers along the circle. “How do we open it?”
“I don’t know.”
Terry leaned back on his knees and pointed at a boulder. “Maybe if we both push, we can move that. See if there’s anything under it.”
“Good idea.” Together, they were able to roll it over, revealing a crank. Terry turned the crank, grunting with effort. The round door slid open.
“Bingo!” Gadget cheered. She hurried over and peered into the hole. Water slapped at the lip of the hole. Terry crouched down and reached into the water, deeper and deeper until his sleeve was wet to the shoulder.
He stood up and shook the water off. “It’s too deep. Somebody has to go in.”
“Hullo!” shouted a voice behind them. Gadget turned and saw what looked like a spaceman waving at them. He had a fishbowl-style helmet and a baggy, gray body suit. Tubes led from the helmet to the back of the suit.
This game just got weird, she thought.
The spaceman removed his helmet. “How lovely! I see you have one of those sky-hoppers.”
“Cloud-skimmer,” Terry corrected. “What are you wearing?”
“It’s an underwater exploring suit.”
“I’ll let you take a ride on the cloud-skimmer if I can try that diving suit,” Gadget said.
“It’s a deal!” The diver started to take off the outfit.
“I could go,” Terry offered.
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
While she climbed into the suit, Terry showed the diver how to use the cloud-skimmer. Gadget put on the helmet and lowered herself into the water.
When she hit the bottom about twenty feet down, she found a tunnel. A light on her helmet flipped on automatically and lit up the path. She walked along the ocean floor, hopping over urchins and avoiding spiny fish and a giant octopus. The octopus grabbed her, and she nearly lost her breathing pack as she frantically wriggled free. She couldn’t reach her sword with the diving suit on, so she had to punch the creature in the head. The octopus blinked and swam away.
At last she found a ledge and climbed up out of the water into a cavern. She found herself face-to-face with a skeleton. Its bony hands held an intricate-looking safe covered in gears and dials.
The skeleton turned its head to face her. It stood up and lurched toward her.
She backed up, unzipping the diving suit so she could reach her sword. As the skeleton reached for her, she took a big swing with the sword and knocked its arm out of the way. The skeleton growled and leaped at her. She swung the sword again and again, knocking the skeleton into pieces. At last its fragmented body fell to the ocean floor. Then Gadget noticed a skeleton key hanging around its neck on a chain.
“Sorry, Bones,” she said and grabbed the key. “You won’t need this anymore.”
She unlocked the safe, and it opened, the gears turning and spiraling. Inside she found a metal cylinder with grooves on one end. It looked like part of a machine.
I was expecting gold or jewels, but treasure is treasure. She slid the part into her pouch. Maybe Captain Fawkes will know what it is. And pay me for my half, since we’re not going to cut it in two.
Chapter 6
I’m up a level, but better yet I have a treasure. If I can just hang on to it, I’ll get out of this game. She zipped the diving outfit back up, put on the helmet, and made her way back through the watery tunnel to the island.
As she climbed out of the hole she heard a noise overhead. She looked up. Did the diver come back with our cloud-skimmer?
A craft appeared over the bluffs and started for the island. It looked like a rowboat dangling from a small zeppelin. She could see several pirates on board. That must be a sky-skiff, she thought.
Terry was pacing back and forth on the far side of the island, looking out to sea.
I need to warn him! She jumped up and down, waving and shouting.
“Terry!” she shouted. “I mean, TerribleT!”
He must have heard her, but he didn’t turn around. The sky-skiff passed over her head and landed on the far side of the island. She ran toward it, ready to fight. A bearded man leaped out and shook hands with Terry.
“Thanks for sending out a signal, partner,” the man said.
Gadget stopped in her tracks. What? Terry sent for them? How? And why?
“She has treasure,” Terry said, pointing her way.
She shook her heard. “I went looking for treasure, but there wasn’t any.”
“She’s lying, Mike,” a woman in the skiff shouted. “She’s holding out on us!”
“You wouldn’t hold out on Menacing Mike, would you?” the pirate asked.
Gadget touched the hilt on her sword. I can’t fight them. It would be four against two. Five against one, if Terry fights on their side.
“There’s no need to fight when you can join our crew,” the pirate said. “You’ll get a piece of the prize. And since you have a knack for finding things, you’ll be a good crewmate.”
Well, at least I won’t have to worry about losing, she thought. She took the cylinder out of her bag and handed it to Mike. He looked at it and smiled. “Oh, yes. This is what he’s looking for all right.”
“What is it, Mike?” asked Terry.
&nbs
p; “No time to explain,” the crew leader said. “Now come on. We have lots of exploring to do, and the captain isn’t friendly when he gets impatient.”
Gadget followed them to the skiff. The woman helped Mike and Terry climb back in, but as Gadget grabbed the edge, the skiff suddenly rose a few feet in the air. The woman laughed at her.
“Sorry,” she said with a sneer. “It looks like we’re out of room.”
Her former partner wouldn’t look at her. He had huddled down in the skiff the second he got on board.
“I’ll get you for this, TerribleT!” she yelled. “Now I know the T stands for ‘traitor!’ ” He didn’t answer. The skiff rose high into the air.
I still have one thing nobody else does, she thought. I know which spots on the map have treasure.
But as the skiff soared away she realized something else.
I know where to go but have no way to get there.
She put the diving gear back on and this time went to the shore. She had to fight the currents while avoiding sharp rocks and spiked fish. When she dragged herself onto the rock beach, she was exhausted.
“It’s about time you returned my underwater exploration outfit,” a man said.
“Huh?” She looked up and saw a very old man in a small shack with a window. A sign read AIRSHIP AND BOAT RENTALS. There were sky-skiffs on a rack and other vehicles she didn’t recognize. She saw a second sign that read NEW! UNDERWATER EXPLORING OUTFITS. The sign hung near diving outfits like the one she was wearing hanging from a rack.
“Oh.” That diver traded us something that didn’t even belong to him! “Can I swap this for a boat?” she asked.
“You can’t trade what’s already mine,” the man said. “Now off with it. Off with it.”
As Gadget stepped out of the diving gear, she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on a strange contraption off to the side that read OUT OF ORDER. It was spherical and made of metal and thick glass.
“What’s that?”